Quinn's speech vague on major Illinois budget problems

Thursday

Feb 23, 2012 at 12:01 AMFeb 23, 2012 at 11:00 PM

SPRINGFIELD -- Saying it was time for Illinois to face up to years of financial mismanagement, Gov. Pat Quinn said Wednesday lawmakers must fix state pensions and Medicaid before those programs collapse. But, in a 30-minute budget speech, Quinn offered no details of how he thinks those twin pillars of the state’s financial problems should be resolved, deferring instead to commissions that are supposed to make recommendations later this spring.

Saying it was time for Illinois to face up to years of financial mismanagement, Gov. Pat Quinn said Wednesday lawmakers must fix state pensions and Medicaid before those programs collapse.

But, in a 30-minute budget speech, Quinn offered no details of how he thinks those twin pillars of the state’s financial problems should be resolved, deferring instead to commissions that are supposed to make recommendations later this spring.

His approach left Republican lawmakers frustrated.

“Everybody knows the issues with pensions. Everybody knows the issues with Medicaid,” said House Minority Leader Tom Cross, R-Oswego. “He said everything is on the table, but what does he want? Tell us what you want. Tell us what you want to pass.”

“I was pleased he didn’t run away from the problem,” said Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, R-Lemont. “The difficulty is there were no real concrete solutions as to how we get out of the problem.”

Democrats, predictably, had a more positive view of the speech.

“The governor started on the right track by explaining to the public exactly what the problems are and how bad they are,” said Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago. “That helps. He’s indicated his willingness to lead the effort, and so that will make it easier for the legislature to make tough decisions.”

From the opening moments of his speech, Quinn warned lawmakers that they would not like what he was going to say.

No applause

“This budget contains truths that may not be what you want to hear, but these are truths you do need to know,” Quinn said. “And I believe you can handle the truth. Today, our rendezvous with reality has arrived.”

For the next 30 minutes, lawmakers sat in stony silence, not once applauding until Quinn finished the speech.

Quinn ticked off a long list of state facility closures and office consolidations that are part of his budget plan. Quinn wants to close two centers for the developmentally disabled, two mental health hospitals, two prisons and six Department of Corrections halfway houses.

In addition, Quinn wants to close dozens of local offices for the Department of Human Services and consolidate State Police communications centers, garages run by the Department of Central Management Services and three Chicago offices of the Department of Children and Family Services.

The legislative leaders said they support the idea of closing facilities, which will surely be met with vehement opposition from rank-and-file members, but did not get behind specific closures.

“Just protecting your prison because you’ve had a prison in the past, even though it’s half-full, is not as strong an argument as it used be,” Cullerton said.

Prison plans dangerous – AFSCME

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which represents prison guards, said Quinn’s plan to close the super-maximum-security prison near Tamms and the women’s prison at Dwight will affect the entire prison system.

“Tamms is a unique supermax facility that safely incarcerates the most dangerous inmates, while Dwight is the state’s only maximum-security prison for women,” said AFSCME spokesman Anders Lindall. “Closing them would trigger a dangerous domino effect, destabilizing the entire correctional system and complicating an overcrowding epidemic the Quinn administration has tried to cover up.”

The state’s prisons house more than 48,000 inmates in buildings designed for fewer than 34,000.

AFSCME also blasted Quinn’s plan to close the halfway houses and send more than 1,000 inmates home with electronic monitors.

“This raises serious questions about public safety, especially since the state’s approximately 350 parole agents are already severely strained by their responsibility to monitor some 30,000 parolees,” Lindall said.

No specifics on pensions, Medicaid

Quinn rehashed the saga of the state’s pension systems and how they amassed more than $80 billion in unfunded liabilities. But a proposed solution will wait until a working group of lawmakers makes a recommendation to Quinn by April 17.

Similarly, Quinn said lawmakers must “move forward to fundamentally restructure our Medicaid program, which is on the brink of collapse.” Another group of lawmakers is working on recommendations to shave $2.7 billion from the program’s budget next year, which could include a combination of changing eligibility, reducing rates paid to providers and cutting services.

“This is not something you can blithely delay for another year. Don’t plan on going home for the summer until you get this job done,” Quinn said, as lawmakers grimaced.

The Illinois Hospital Association said in a statement that nearly one-third of all hospitals in Illinois are already losing money. Cuts in Medicaid could force some to close and others to reduce services and lay off staff, the group said.

The Illinois State Medical Society said Quinn’s speech “ignored the huge financial burden medical offices are being forced to carry.” That includes not only low reimbursements for treating Medicaid patients, but also late payments for state workers’ health care.

Tax ‘loopholes’

Quinn did not renew his call this year for lawmakers to pay off the backlog of bills by issuing bonds.

Quinn’s staff hinted Tuesday that the governor would lay out some options for closing what he calls tax loopholes, business tax breaks that could be closed to produce more revenue for the state. That money could be used to pay for tax relief for working families, he said.

“For too long we’ve had a revenue code that looks like Swiss cheese, with plenty of loopholes for the powerful,” Quinn said.

But Quinn only cited one example – a break for oil companies that’s worth $75 million a year.

Radogno said closing loopholes is worth examining, but noted that when it was tried in the past, lawmakers often found legitimate reasons for the loopholes to exist.

Not all of Quinn’s speech was doom and gloom. Although education spending overall would be kept flat, Quinn wants a $20 million increase for early childhood education and $50 million for college grants.

Republicans said all new spending should be eliminated from the budget.

Doug Finke can be reached at (217) 788-1527. Chris Wetterich contributed to this report.